Replies

Thanks Cormin!
Rumor:
Starbucks Refused to Send Donated Coffee to Marines In Iraq and Said the Company Does Not Support the War-Fiction!

Summary of the eRumor:
An email from a Marine who says some Marines wrote to Starbucks to say how much they liked Starbucks coffee and to request some donated coffee for the Marines.
The eRumor says Starbucks responded by saying they don't support and war and will not send any coffee.
The writer urges a boycott of Starbucks.

The Truth:
TruthOrFiction.com contacted Starbucks about the story.

Starbucks says that the originator of the email, Sgt. Howard Wright, and talked with him about his complaint.
He has now sent a follow-up email to his email list, which appears below.

Starbucks assured him of their support of the military and that the only reason any coffee was not donated was because the official Starbucks donation policy authorizes such gifts to officially designated public charities, including libraries and schools, and that the U.S. military or military personnel do not qualify.
It was not meant to be a comment on the war or the service of military personnel in the war.
The company said that there have been employees that have showed their support through donations of coffee.
Starbucks told us that many of the company's employees (called "partners" by Starbucks) receive one pound of free coffee each week and some of that coffee has gone to members of the military or related organizations.
For example, the employees in the Starbucks in Atascadero, California, decided to send their weekly free coffee to troops in Afghanistan and there are other such stories about Starbucks coffee finding its way into the hands of military personnel.

Here is Sgt. Wright's follow-up email after Starbucks spoke with him:

Dear Readers,

Almost 5 months ago I sent an e-mail to you my faithful friends. I did a wrong thing that needs to be cleared up. I heard by word of mouth about how Starbucks said they didn't support the war and all. I was having enough of that kind of talk and didn't do my research properly like I should have. This is not true. Starbucks supports men and women in uniform. They have personally contacted me and I have been sent many copies of their company's policy on this issue. So I apologize for this quick and wrong letter that I sent out to you.

Now I ask that you all pass this email around to everyone you passed the last one to. Thank you very much for understanding about this.

Howard C. Wright
Sgt USMC
1st Force Rcon Co
1st Plt PLT RTO

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

Subject: Starbucks

Dear everyone: Please pass this along to anyone you know, this needs to get
out in the open. Recently Marines over in Iraq supporting this country in OIF
wrote to Starbucks because they wanted ! to let them know how much they
liked their coffee and try to score some free coffee grounds. Starbucks wrote
back telling the Marines thanks for their support in their business, but that
they don't support the War and anyone in it and that they won't send them the
Coffee.

So as not to offend them we should not support in buying any Starbucks products.

As a War vet and writing to you patriots I feel we should get this out in the open. I know this War might not be very popular with some folks, but that doesn't mean we don't support the boys on the ground fighting street to street and house to house for what they and I believe is right. If you feel the same as I do then pass this along, or you can discard it and I'll never know. Thanks very much for your support to me, and I know you'll all be there again here soon when I deploy once more.

Semper Fidelis, Sgt Howard C. Wright
1st Force Recon Co
1st Plt PLT RTO

Thank you!